Conservative Sen. Jim DeMint to resign

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina conservative who made waves by condemning House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's offer to resolve the fiscal cliff stand-off, will retire from the Senate, his office said Thursday.

DeMint will leave in January to run the Heritage Foundation, one of the most conservative think tanks in Washington.

A favorite of the anti-tax Tea Party movement, DeMint this week said the offer by Boehner, a Republican, for $800 billion of increased tax revenues would "destroy jobs and allow Washington politicians" to swell, not reduce, the deficit.